David Lee Moroni

David Lee Moroni

David Lee Moroni, dancer, teacher, director (b at Ottawa 14 Mar 1938). As founding principal of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School's professional division, Moroni has made a significant contribution to the quality of dance education in Canada and has helped raise the technical standard of the company itself, into which many of his students have graduated. Moroni trained in Ottawa with Nesta Toumine and danced in her local company before joining the ROYAL WINNIPEG BALLET in 1964, where he became a principal dancer in 1966 and associate artistic director in 1976. In 1970 he retired from dancing to head the company's professional training program. Under the particular tutelage of the great Russian teacher Vera Volkova, Moroni was able to develop a successful academic regime derived from the famous Vaganova system. Several of Moroni's students have gone on to win major international competitions, notably Evelyn HART and Laura Graham. His honours include the Order of Canada, 1990.